Delayed Reaction

So yesterday I was feeling all impressed with myself because despite a large number of drinks consumed and a lot of hookah smoking on Saturday night I was feeling pretty good.  I didn't have a headache, my throat didn't hurt, I wasn't sore at all, it was pretty nice.  Four of us went to breakfast, then I hung out at home for awhile and then I went over to help my new neighbors unpack a little. 

*sidenote:  Have I mentioned how unbelievably happy I am that my friends are moving back to Winthrop??  I AM SO FREAKING HAPPY ABOUT IT.  Suddenly my lack of a car is completely moot as far as hanging out purposes.  Friends within walking distance is fabulous.

Anyway, I did all this stuff and then I went to bed nice and early, got a full night's sleep, and woke up this morning feeling like I was about 75 years old.  My legs are killing me from hip to toe, my head feels as though it's in a fog and the fact that I made it through the entire work day without falling asleep at my desk is a pretty big accomplishment.

Sooo tired.  After work I met some people for a drink (but just one drink and it was sangria so I feel like that only counts as half a drink anyway) and I was all excited to get home and watch The Middleman at 8:00 and then go to sleep, only to discover that it's on at its "new time."  Which is 10:00pm.  

Crap.

Oh well, I'm pretty sure I'll stay up for it anyway.  Because I am well known for not making good decisions when it comes to bedtime and getting enough sleep. 

Birthday Festivities!

My birthday celebration took place this weekend, and it was fabulous!

Friday night we went to this place called Border Cafe for some margaritas and fajitas.  We ended up spending about three hours there which resulted in several margaritas, and the food was delicious.  HG's even came with some decoration:

After we finished eating we were sitting at the table sipping out cocktails and chatting when off to the left I heard a noise.  First I thought another table was getting a little rowdy, then I thought that it was probably someone's birthday and they were about to get embarrassed with a cake and a song.  Then I turned back to the right to mention it to the rest of the table and there was a cake sitting in front of me.  This was my reaction:
  

I don't know why it didn't originally occur to me that the cake would be for me, particularly given that earlier in the day Toni had said to me, "we're definitely getting you a cake tonight." (I hadn't had one on my actual birthday)  It was a pretty tasty cake. :)


Saturday afternoon some of us went to see Wall-E.  It was so fantastic.  All four of us were totally geeked when it was over, we couldn't stop talking about it.  Pixar sure knows what it's doing.  I recommend it to everyone, it's funny, it's sweet, it's just all around great.  Go see it!

After the movie we went to  Alisa's where she made this AMAZING spread of sandwiches for us (my favorite food).  Sadly, there was no picture taken before we ate, but here's one little sandwich left afterward along with some of the flowers I got for my birthday (also my favorites).  So delicious, and excellent presentation.

Then there was more cake.
  

Then we went to a hookah bar and had many drinks and things turned into a giant dance party.  It was pretty great.

There were issues on the T this morning.

I just spent 40 minutes trapped underground in a subway car next to a completely ignorant (and loud and annoying and all sorts of other negative things) group of mid-teenage children.

There was also a lady who thought my arm was a backrest for her and no amount of flexing and elbow-jutting would convince her otherwise.

My throat hurts.

Already not so much my favorite day.

But at least now I feel better I've gotten that out there.

happy birthday to me....

So the first day of my late 20's did not suck! :)

Actually, thus far it's been pretty great.

Anyway, it seems that Alisa has tagged me in one of those things that people get tagged in and I have decided to do a birthday edition of said thing (what are they called again? I've totally blanked).

Anyway, 6 random things about me.

1. As of 11:14 this morning, I'm 27 years old.

2. I get excited about my birthday like I'm five years old. I could barely sleep last night and every time my phone vibrated with a new email I woke up and checked it with a big dopey grin on my face.

3. I have a personal belief that you get right around 10 days for celebrating your birthday. This has worked out perfectly so far in my family, even with all three of us in June. My little brother gets the first 10, my older brother gets the middle 10 and I get the last 10. It even works with my sister-in-law, who gets the first 10 in July. My parent's birthdays aren't in the summer, so there's no conflict with theirs.

4. To date, the most fun I've ever had on my birthday was 25. The only thing I ever really want for my birthday is to have everyone that I love around having a good time.

5. For the last 3 or so years (at least), a big part of my birthday celebration involves going to a movie. I mean, I know I go to a lot of movies, but it just doesn't seem like my birthday unless I get a group of people together and go to the cinema.

6. I got a singing telegram today! It's a company in India and they call and sing you a song! It was pretty magical.

So that's that. It was kind of tough to do actually, all themed and stuff.

Anyway, I had a great birthday and I look forward to continuing the celebration this weekend. :)

blahblahblah

I'm afraid my blogginess will be somewhat short handed for the immediate future as I got a bit of an internet smack-down at work last week and most days when I get home from work I pretty much just want to crash and not even try to be interesting. However, we'll see if I can re-train myself.

I did nothing over the weekend, except read 5 books and sleep. Seriously, that's all I did.

I have two recommendations for you, however. Over the weekend I watched The Cooler. Now if you can get past a lot of nakedness and violence, it's not a bad movie. I like William H. Macy a lot, and I thought it was well done.

Also, I started watching The Middle Man on ABC Family last week. I like it, it's not bad for summer fare. So far that and My Boys are my two summer shows at the moment. It's enough to keep me entertained.

Anyway, somebody's birthday is tomorrow....oh wait, it's mine. :) Late 20's, ugh. I'm pretty sure I wish I could just skip ahead to 30. I don't foresee any greatness in the next three years. I have this grand plan about how it's all gonna come together in my 30's. I'll have stuff figured out, I'll have picked some kind of direction in life, etc. My late 20's sort of feel like an extended waiting room. Oh well, I'm at least looking forward to celebrating!

sighting

I have had a stressful couple of days, and I don't have the energy for an actual post, but I will tell you this.

Yesterday I was killing time in the Commons before meeting a friend for dinner and I was on the phone with someone and I was wandering around and I walked right in front of Ellen Pompeo (of Grey's Anatomy) and her husband and a couple other people. It was my first actual random celebrity sighting.

I feel as though I just had a rite of passage or something.

Also, let it be known that I just put my head down and kept walking because I didn't want to seem like a total freak. But I'm pretty sure I did a double take so that goal was probably shot right from the beginning. Oh well, we already knew I wasn't that cool.

rejuvinated

(long, satisfying deep breath)

I love arbitrary Boston holidays that practically no one else celebrates. Yesterday was Bunker Hill Day, which I think you should definitely read up about, if only to laugh at how silly it is that the Battle of Bunker Hill was not actually fought on Bunker Hill.

Despite my best intentions of sleeping in, I somehow found myself wide awake at 6:30 yesterday morning. Normally I would have attempted to will myself back to sleep for a couple of hours, but for whatever reason I got up. I walked to my local cafe and got some breakfast, then returned home and cleaned my entire apartment. It's spotless, to the point where a friend came over yesterday and remarked, "whoa. Check out this place!".

Now, my plan all along had been to clean my apartment yesterday, but I never imagined that I would be finished by 10 in the morning. I figured I'd still be wiping sleep from my eyes at 10 in the morning. I was expecting a visit from my soon-to-be neighbor mid-afternoon (the aforementioned friend) but I was suddenly struck with a dilemma. What the heck was I going to do from 10 am to 2? It was so out of the ordinary for me to have not procrastinated on what I needed to do that I actually had no idea how to fill my time once it was legitimately free time, and there wasn't something else I was SUPPOSED to be doing. When I have something hanging over my head I have no problem coming up with alternative ways to spend my time. But this was so new and different I was at a loss.

I read for awhile, I tried to watch a movie, I read a little more, I made lunch, I wandered from room to room (both of them) marveling at how different it looks when it's clean and looking for more things to straighten up, I read a little more. It was the weirdest thing. That was possibly the longest 4 hours of my life.

At last (or so it seemed to me) said friend showed up and we spent a lovely afternoon walking around near the ocean, talking about how great being neighbors again was going to be, getting ice cream, playing scratch lottery tickets (can you really play those? I'm not sure how else to say that) and chattering on about girly things.

I rounded my evening out with a couple of Netflix movies and another surprise call from a Michigan visitor (who I will hopefully see tonight)! It was a pretty nice way to spend a day. Of course, last night I could not fall asleep for whatever reason so today I'm tired, but that's fine.


I have one little side story, the moral of which is you should always listen to me. Always. Because I am never wrong. Ha.

Over the weekend, a friend of mine (you all remember HG, right?) was traveling to NYC by bus. When he called from the bus station on Saturday we had this conversation:

Me: You're not taking the Fung Wah are you?
Him: Yea, it was cheap and it was leaving right then.
Me: Oh my god you're going to die by the side of the road in a fireball.
Him: Don't say things like that. That doesn't really happen.
Me: Just promise me, PROMISE me that you will take the Peter Pan bus on the way back. It's like $5 more. Do NOT take the Fung Wah back to Boston.
Him: Yea, I promise, whatever.

We cut to last night, my cell phone rings. It's HG. I pick up the phone and it sounds as though he's standing inside a jet engine or in a high speed boat or something. We have the following conversation:

Him: Guess where I'm calling you from?
Me: The water? The air? I have no idea.
Him: I'm calling from the side of the highway.
Me: You took the Fung Wah, didn't you.
Him: Yes.
Me: What did I tell you?
Him: Yea, but I didn't think anything would actually happen, I thought you were kind of joking!

They had a breakdown on the side of the road somewhere in Connecticut, and had to wait for another bus to come pick them up and bring them the rest of the way to Boston. They did make it safely, thank goodness. That'll teach him not to listen to me!

Also, as the birthday month continues, today it's my older brother's turn! My brothers are 11 years apart with me right in the middle. Though I bring up the rear, birthday wise. Speaking of which I'm trying to come up with something fun to do for my birthday this year. I have planned to see Wall-E that weekend and go to dinner with some friends, but I'm trying to determine if there's something other than the traditional 'go to a bar and have many drinks' birthday celebration to round out the day/evening. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just looking into my options. Does anyone have any fabulous suggestions?

I don't even have a title for today.

I'd like to be able to tell you I did lots of exciting things over the weekend. I'd like to tell you that wild shenanigans were participated in. But I can't.

I was so lame this weekend, I'm not even sure how I spent most of my time.

I'm trying to make a serious effort to curtail the spending in a (somewhat last minute) attempt to save some money for the mass of expenses that is going to be July. Which so far results in a lot of reading, movie watching and knitting. And while fun for me, doesn't exactly translate into action packed stories that other people want to read about. However, let's go with reading.

I decided yesterday (after watching The Return of the King for the first time since I got my new big TV - let me just quickly tell you how much of a difference an approximately 36 inch screen makes compared to a 19 inch screen. It's a lot. I love it) that I would start my yearly reading of all the Harry Potter books (no, it doesn't bother me that I'm like 8 days away from my late 20's and still reading these every year, why do you ask?).

Every time I pick them up I tell myself that this time I'm going to read them very slowly to make sure I get every piece of information and just soak it up and really enjoy it. So I started The Sorcerer's Stone at about 7 last night and as of about 11 last night I think I have two chapters left. I even tried reading it out loud in some parts to see if that would slow me down. It did, but I felt like a really big freak show and decided that wasn't a habit I'd like to get in to. This is when I imagine having kids would come in handy some day. To slow down the reading process. Honestly, I don't know what my problem is. It's like my eyes are in a race to see which one can finish a page first or something. I don't know. So these are my leisure time books.

My public transportation books (so that people will think I'm deep and be too intimidated to talk to me) are classics at the moment. I'm still working on fighting my way through Emma, and I don't know why it's been so hard to read this time. Every time I read a couple of pages I set it aside and don't look at it for like a week. I'm carrying it around in my bag right now but I just can't get over the hump. After this it's Dangerous Liaisons, which I was super excited about when I read the excerpt from my online book club but now I look at it sitting in the middle of my living room floor (like the organization system?) and I just feel tired thinking about reading it. I think my brain boycotts reading serious books in the summertime.

Anyway, tomorrow is another fantastic Boston-only holiday (it's Bunker Hill Day) so I won't be at work, and I'd like to think that I'll be cleaning my apartment and doing productive things, but I'm pretty sure I'll just end up reading all day. Possibly by the beach, depending on the weather. And if I remember to buy eggs, I could finally make those cookies before all the chocolate chips are gone.

it's a miracle

It's been said that in order to overcome one's fears, one has to face them. That's what I did today.

The facing, anyway. I'm not so sure the overcoming thing will ever actually happen.

I'm absolutely, 100% TERRIFIED of heights. Generally, if I get up too high, I suddenly become paralyzed with fear and have a hard time even breathing, let alone moving around. Then comes the dizziness, the tensing, it's not a pretty picture. Falling is one of the scariest things imaginable to me. I don't even really like being at the top of a set of stairs. I can contain myself if I'm simply high up in a building on the inside (the Sears Tower, for instance) or the barriers go up high enough I realize that there's really no possible way I can fall to my death unless I climb up them (the Seattle Space Needle). I still wouldn't set up camp there, but I can function like a normal person and it's really just a small flicker of unease in the back of my mind.

And then there are times like today. Times when my boss was attempting to teach me the ways of the trade and the inner workings of large buildings. We have a whole list and the goal is to go through everything on the list during the span of the summer. It's a beautiful day today. She came into my office and asked me where I'd like to start. I looked everything over and chose the one that would result in being outside. I saw that it included the roof, but I figured it's a pretty big roof and people go up there all the time, I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll be a little scared, but I just won't get too close to the edge. It'll be fine. (see how I was already trying to talk myself into it? Yea...)

As soon as we walked through the door onto the roof, I was experiencing a mild form of panic. The walkway was MUCH narrower than I would have guessed, and I also would not have anticipated quite so many different levels to the roof. I was able to keep it under control, as there is a little ledge and if I had to get right up next to it, I could crouch down so as to feel safer. We didn't spend a lot of time next to the edge (I even managed to appreciate the spectacular view such a perch provided) and pretty soon we were checking out the interior of the roof, and the machinery and everything. It was all very interesting.

And then she wanted to show us the cooling tower. Note the word "tower" implying it was at the very tippy top of the roof. Which it was. We had to crawl up not one, but two little metal ladder type things to get up there. No safety net, no big cushion in case we fell. Just death and despair (yes. dramatic. I know. I'm trying to give you a feel for it)

My initial internal reaction was something like this:

THERE IS NO #%&^$%@ WAY IN @#$^ I AM GOING UP THOSE @$%^@# LADDERS. ARE YOU #%&^#@$%@ CRAZY?!?!!?! I WILL #%&#$@ DIE!

My brain stepped in for a moment and I realized that probably wasn't the best thing to scream at my boss. Then my pride stepped in and I realized that the little girl (ok, so she's probably like 19. She's an intern. Whatever) who was with us was all about climbing the ladders. And so was my boss. Didn't phase either of them one bit. At that point I decided there was no way I was going to look weak or scared in front of my boss. I don't know why this was such a big deal today, I mean this is a woman who has seen me at my absolute worst. Saying I was uncomfortable going on the roof would have been NOTHING compared to that. I don't know, maybe that's why I decided to be a hero (in my own mind) today.

Anyway, up I went. Scary deathtrap ladder #1. Deep breath. Scary deathtrap ladder #2. Sigh of relief. Honestly, I wasn't terribly concerned about going up, but with each step I thought to myself, "oh god I have to go back down again" over and over. For a minute I thought I was going to have to live on the roof of my building for the rest of my life.

Long story short (or long) I made it. There and back again. Safely (though I still don't know how I made it back down those stairs). No outward panic, no terror sweats, no inappropriate outbursts of hysteria. I'm back safely at my desk, but I'll be honest, I'm completely exhausted. The level of concentration it took not to lose my mind while on that roof has resulted in draining a good portion of my energy.

I'm most definitely going to the movies after work today. Then I'm having a big drink.

Happy weekend!

the good, the bad, the ugly

Good:

After an unexpected phone call from a Michigan friend on Tuesday telling me that she was in Massachusetts, I got to take a nice, leisurely lunch today, sitting out on the patio of one of the restaurants down on the first floor catching up with her and meeting her boyfriend. (usually, my lunch consists of running down to the food court, grabbing a sandwich and coming back to my office where I eat it while I work/check my email/waste time on the internet)

It was pretty great to see my friend and catch up, as I think it's been close to a year and a half since we've seen each other, and the odd email/phone call is nice, but not the same as face to face conversation. Plus, did I mention I got to take a long lunch?


Bad:

I still had to go back to work after lunch. It's such a beautiful day and I want to take a nap!


Ugly:

I was in the sun for about 45 minutes to an hour. Tops. Sitting on a patio, under an overhang. I got sunburned. Please explain to me how I spent a whole day over Memorial Day weekend outside wandering around Boston in a lot of heat and direct sun exposure (no sunscreen) and sat outside drinking margaritas for two hours without getting sunburned; how I spent last Saturday afternoon outside at the racetrack in the sweltering heat and direct sun (no sunscreen) and did not get sunburned; and yet today, I sat outside on a relatively mild day, in a relatively shaded area for a relatively short amount of time (admittedly without sunscreen) but got burned?

I do not understand it.

that guy

Allow me to tell you a story of a man I saw on the bus yesterday. A ridiculous, ridiculous man. We'll call him That Guy.

We're talking about a guy who was probably in his early to mid-40's. Salt and pepper hair, of medium height and build.

That Guy was rockin a pair of Versace sunglasses with a white Tony Soprano looking shirt and black slacks.

That Guy was standing in front of where I was sitting talking to his friend and while I couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, it looked like something along these lines, "hey buddy buddy, blahblahblah buddy!" each 'buddy' being punctuated with a play punch to his friend's arm or midsection. He was even hopping around like a boxer a little bit (kind of a challenge on a moving bus). In between play punches, he was grabbing at different parts of what I like to call the balance pole, but not for any longer than about 2 seconds at a time. First high, then low, the in the middle, then dangerously close to hitting me in the face, back to high, etc.

At the first requested stop, the bus driver opened both the front door and the back door (where this guy was standing). As the door opened That Guy got all huffy and turned toward the door as though he were about to fight it. Luckily for the door, it closed quickly and was spared any abuse. From then he seemed to realize that when the bus stopped the door would open, and he resumed his friend-punching, pole-grabbing activities.

Standing sort of near That Guy was another guy holding a completely beautiful bouquet of roses (whiteish-yellow with maroon around the edges. Really pretty). That Guy turns to him and says, "hey buddy, nice with the flowers, you know?" Flower Guy responded with, "yes, it's good, right?" But That Guy came right back with, "Calm down, it's not that cool, pal, they're just flowers" as though Flower Guy had challenged him in some way.

At this point his friend (who I see quite often and has always seemed fairly normal) indicated that they should just get off at the next stop. I think he was starting to be legitimately embarrassed (and/or afraid this guy would start a fight). After they got off I saw them walking down the street, with That Guy continuing the boxer dance fake punch thing, but now that his movement was less restricted it included a jumping around and getting right up in the face portion.

I really hope he was on something.

ehh

I'm feeling especially boring today. My apologies.

Instead, I will show you this picture of a scarf I started knitting on Sunday (because I clearly haven't learned to crochet so the baby dress is on indefinite hold, but it is at least sewn together, so if worse comes to worse I'll just fake the rest. And there's no way I'm knitting on an afghan when it's the approximate temperature of the sun outside). It's pretty, and keep in mind it'll get prettier because it's lace (technically it's the Oriel Lace Scarf from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders) and the fun part about lace is that it looks like a big crazy mess while you're making it and then after you're finished and you've blocked it you look like a magician (well, that's how you look to everyone who doesn't know how to knit lace. To the people who do, you just look normal).

I enjoy looking like a magician.

Plus, I've been looking at this leftover yarn since I finished Grace's shawl that almost killed me three or so years ago (!) and I'd like to be rid of it. I think I have plenty of leftovers, but it also wouldn't surprise me even a little bit if I ran out halfway through.

Ah, well.



One last thing. I feel like you should know that I just (as in, over the weekend) realized that I have a close up setting on my camera. The new (to me) camera that is simply an updated model of the camera I've had for the last 4 years (and has all the same features and even all the same buttons). Sometimes it helps to pay attention. Anyway, at least it results in less blurry pictures!

a day at the races

Do you want to know a really fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon? Go to the track.

I'm serious.

It's $2 to get in, you get to hang out outside, the drinks are cheap and you don't even have to bet if you don't want to (lest you think I'm trying to convince you to spend all your hard earned money on gambling. I would never!). I can certainly think of worse ways to spend a day. We stayed through the end of racing at the track and then hung around for the Belmont Stakes simulcast. I didn't do any betting (I didn't even do any drinking) and it was outrageously hot, but still we had fun. I took a couple pictures with my cell phone, as I did not have my camera (for which I was yelled at a lot and have now been scared into making sure the camera is in the bag at ALL TIMES). The quality isn't the greatest, but here are a couple shots of the scenery:


One of the most fun things at the track is the mix of people who show up there. Young people, old people, normal looking well-ish dressed folks (that would be us, obviously, ha) and insane, shouting-at-the-tv-with-crazy-hair-and-dirty-clothes type people. It's a people-watching dream come true.

And for those of us who are not big on the beer, there was a martini stand where for $6.75 you could get a cosmo, a chocolatini, an apple martini, or some other kind. They may or may not have been prepackaged, I didn't get close enough to find out. After all, there has to be some mystery left for the next trip!

After the track we decided to go back to S' place for some food and sangria. And somehow that turned into a free-for-all basketball game with a nerf basketball hoop and mini-ball. The number of bruises currently on my person as a result of this game is quite staggering, actually. Oh well, at least this time I know what caused them (which is sort of new and different for me, I always have these mysterious bruises, I must punch myself in my sleep or something). Never underestimate the funness of random unplanned nerf basketball. And thank goodness for central air.


Because it's so miserably hot right now. At 7:30 this morning I was outside waiting for the bus and I was already wilting from the heat. I shouldn't complain, because it wasn't too long ago that it was about 3000 degrees below zero, but is it too much to ask for spring to last just a little longer with its moderate temperatures and friendly breezes? At least I can be thankful that I'm not one of the construction guys across the street. I can't think of many jobs that would be less fun in this kind of weather than having to be fully covered head to toe and holding a blow torch all day.


Finally, I saw a headline this morning on msn that read,

"Dating Advice: I'm gorgeous, so why won't he get serious?"

(pause for you to absorb)

I'm sure if I bothered to read this article it would (hopefully) talk about compatibility, looks aren't everything blah blah blah, but seriously. Why even make that a headline? I mean, really? I'm sure there are people who actually think that way (which makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit) but that doesn't make it ok and stupid msn shouldn't be condoning that sort of behavior. It's just so wrong (which is why I will not bother to read the article).

rain rain go away!

The sky (aka all the white, because it's colorless):


(plus a nice view of the construction going up across the street, you see how it's slowly blocking out everything?)

The current temperature: 55F

Today's high: 69F
Tomorrow's high: 89F (yikes)

Yesterday: rain
Today: rain
Tomorrow: thunderstorms

I don't like it when the sun goes on extended vacations. It makes me want to sleeeeep all the time. Which is not conducive to work.

And it doesn't really help that my boss brought in delicious looking (and tasting) cupcakes so now I'm crashing from the sugar high I was on earlier. It should definitely be naptime.

and just like that, the sun comes out

Not literally. But still. When I was writing my earlier post, I started with "Anyway, today is one of those days that just hasn't gone quite right from beginning to end" but I changed it because I thought to myself, "no, maybe it'll turn around. You don't know how the day's gonna end" (ever the optimist).

I got home to find this:


A package! From April! Put a smile on my face and made me feel better! Thanks April, you're the best!!

keep me hangin' on...

I'm pretty sure I heard the song in my head this morning while I was in Dunkin' Donuts getting my bagel. Only now it won't leave. "But you don't really love me, you just keep me hangin' on..." Every thought I've had this afternoon has been interrupted by that. I've even caught myself singing it out loud a couple times. It's a wonder I'm sane (yea yea, it's debatable. I know).


Anyway, today is one of those days that just hasn't gone quite right from the beginning. My shirt is being weird (which results in me tugging on it continually), I spilled something on my pants, I can't get the new printer at work to function properly, all my other work is annoying and issue-filled, it's gray gray gray outside, the construction across the street is progressing at a rapid pace which means very soon I won't be able to see the sun even when it's out, my hair is doing several strange things (none of which look good), I forgot to put makeup on this morning, and I pretty much just want to take a nap and not talk to anyone about anything work related whatsoever.


On the positive side of life (because balance is everything), my little brother is 22 today (which actually makes me feel pretty old), I'm having groceries delivered tonight (and we all know how I feel about that), I made travel plans for my final wedding of this year yesterday, July is inching ever closer which will bring a visit from one of my Michigan people (the first and probably only person to visit me this year, ahemeveryoneelse) and 2 of the 3 wedding related events I'm attending for the year. All good things. That's the ticket, focus on what is there to look forward to.


Or maybe I'll just go home and bake cookies. That'll help, right?


Anyway, here's a picture of the baby dress I've been working on. This is the front, minus the pockets. It's a pretty red, isn't it? And I totally didn't follow the directions for the back, but I've decided to be ok with it because I don't feel like ripping back, particularly since I went to the trouble to block it last night. :)




I know, it's not the most exciting picture ever. But there has been a definite lack of pictures on here recently and this is seriously the only thing I've photographed. Will it help if I promise that when I take the finished picture you will ooh and ahh and it will all be worth it? (assuming I magically learn to crochet all of a sudden?)

RoCo Rundown

That's right, it's 2 for the price of 1 day here on Jessie! You're welcome.

Entertainment Weekly just posted a list of 19 terrible romantic comedies. While running down this list I found myself alternately thinking, "yea that sucked" and "what?!!? are you people dead inside? I love that movie!"

So I thought, what better way to spend my time than to give you my thoughts on these 19 hated flicks. My apologies to the approximately three men who read this (but I bet at least one of you secretly likes romantic comedies. You know you do)

Without further ado (I'll even admit which ones I own):


Only You starring Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey, Jr.
It's one of the biggest travesties of the world that Marisa Tomei has an Oscar. She's just not a very good actress. And while I love RDJ, trying to pull of a shoe salesman/liar/stalker guy and still come off as lovable was never really going to work out well. I watched this online through Netflix, and I can agree, it's terrible.


My Boss' Daughter starring Tara Reid and Ashton Kutcher
I don't remember anything about this movie aside from thinking that they should stop letting Tara Reid make movies. Waste of a rental.


Someone Like You starring Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman
I actually like this movie. I can admit that Ashely Judd gets moderately insane and for whatever reason there's always been something I don't trust about Greg Kinnear (it's like he's trying too hard to be a good guy which makes me think he's a jerk), but it's still cute (and even the fact that Marisa Tomei is in it didn't really bother me). However, I will concede that my liking of this movie could have something to do with how it always makes me think of this really fun night in the dorms after Andrea and I went to see it in college. (do you remember that, A?) I own this one.


Failure to Launch starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaghey
I really like this one. I like it mostly because of Zooey Deschanel and Justin Bartha, but I like it nonetheless. I own this one too.


The Holiday starring Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslett and Jack Black
I LOVE this movie. I seriously don't know anyone personally who has seen it and doesn't like it. My friend's husband even admitted to liking this movie. I think you have to have emotional problems not to like this movie. Own it.


Bounce starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck
I remember something about a plane crash, a 12 step program, blah blah blah. I remember it was boring. Skip it!


The Family Stone starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Claire Danes and Luke Wilson
After finishing this movie (which I rented from Netflix) I remember sitting in my apartment, feeling depressed and thinking how mad I was that some moron marketed it as a romantic comedy. It is NOT a romantic comedy. If anything, it's a dramedy, but that doesn't make it good (or even that funny. I changed my mind, it should have been a family drama). Disappointing all around.


Notting Hill starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant
Personally, I think it would be physically impossible for me not to like a movie with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in starring roles. I still really like this movie!


The Truth About Cats & Dogs starring Janeane Garofalo, Uma Thurman and a guy whose name I don't remember (Ben Chaplin, I looked it up)
I always liked this one. I haven't seen it in about 5 years, but I can accept the fact that it might not be that good and my opinion is skewed because it came out when I was 15 and therefore probably just getting into these types of movies, so I wouldn't have noticed any obvious formulas at work. Only that Janeane Garofalo was short, had brown hair and was funny. That was pretty much enough for me.


Dog Park starring Natasha Henstridge and Luke Wilson
I've never even heard of this so it's probably not good.


What Women Want starring Helen Hunt and Mel Gibson
I like this one, I think it was an entertaining premise, and it's a throwback to the days before Helen Hunt faded quickly into obscurity (after Dr. T and the Women - where was that on this list? Worst movie ever) and Mel Gibson was not a crazy drunk guy. I own it, and I just watched it a few weeks ago.


Because I Said So starring Mandy Moore and Diane Keaton (and 2 guys whose names I don't know - Gabriel Macht and Tom Everett Scott)
Yea, this movie was terrible. I had such high hopes given how much I like Mandy Moore, Lauren Graham, and at least one of the main guys (Gabriel Macht). But it was a letdown in every way. Too much Diane Keaton being the crazy version of Diane Keaton.


The Wedding Date starring Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney
This is one of my FAVORITES. I seriously never get sick of watching it. Own it!


Sweet Home Alabama starring Reese Witherspoon, Patrick Dempsey and Josh Lucas
It's cute, I like it, whatever. It's not cinematic genius, but it gets the job done. Own it.


Return to Me starring Minnie Driver and David Duchovney
I'm pretty sure if you don't like this movie it's because you're dead inside. I think Bonnie Hunt is great as a director and I love everything about this movie. Clearly I own it.


Forget Paris starring Debra Winger and Billy Crystal
I'm not sure I've ever seen this one, but outside of When Harry Met Sally Billy Crystal doesn't exist for me in romantic comedies.


27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl and James Marsden
OK, I know there are people who didn't really like this movie. But seriously, the state of the genre was so bad in the year or so leading up to its release (I can't remember off the top of my head a good romantic comedy that came out last year) that when it came out I sat in the theatre saying, "finally! They got it right again!" And seriously, James Marsden might just be the cutest little man ever. Own it!


Summer Catch starring Jessica Biel and Freddie Prinze Jr.
Ugh. Yea, terrible.


Simply Irresistible starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and the guy from Boondock Saints...Sean Patrick Flanery
This is a completely ridiculous movie, top to bottom. Everything about it is silly.


And that's the list! I would also like to point out that while I was reading this I was holding a glass of Sprite (yes, from Monday) and it suddenly dropped out of my hand spilling all over my lunch, my desk, and my shirt. So that was pretty awesome. Way to go, me.

Finally, special thanks to imDb for all its help with supplying names of actors I couldn't remember.

technical difficulties

Last night I was sitting around my apartment with not much to do.

Well, let me slightly rephrase. I was sitting around my apartment not doing much (avoiding cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc) and I started playing around with my new phone. One major problem I find with new cell phones is that all the ring tones they come with are annoying and crappy. I generally keep my phone to vibrate all the time except when I'm at home by myself. But when I have my ringer on, I prefer that it not make me bleed from the ears.

Which brings me to yesterday. I decided I would download myself a new ringer. I went and found the downloadable ringers and selected the "songs you know" category. Once there I chose Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" (they didn't have any Neil Diamond, sadly). I purchased it, expecting that now every time my phone rang I would get pumped. Only I tested it out and it was still the same crappy ring. Then I realized nothing actually downloaded to the phone, which is weird. I kept calling myself over and over (no, I'm not kidding. This was a very serious mystery) until finally, as the call connected from my apartment phone, the Sprint lady's voice came on and said, "please enjoy this music while we connect your call" and there it was. Apparently I had bought this song to play for OTHER people when they call me. I didn't know that was an option (and now I can't get it out of my head. I'm sitting at my desk doing my chair bounce dance - which is awesome - and "dooon't stop! belieeeevin!" is on a continual loop).

For the moment, I'm leaving this as is (because, you know, I paid for it) but if I start to hear that it's horribly obnoxious for people who call on a regular basis I'll turn it off once I feel I've gotten my $2.50 worth (though how could you get sick of Journey!? ha). Until then, if you feel the pressing need for some Journey in your life, give me a call. :)

I did end up figuring out what I needed to do in order to actually download a ringer to my phone, and now the tone is "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers. Which brings up images of Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze having a sexy pottery session every time, but I still love it!

it's never a smooth course

My plan for Monday:

1. Leave work at 5:00.

2. Get home around 6:00.

3. Do a much needed load of laundry.

4. Watch a movie/chill/go to bed early.


My actual Monday:

1. Leave work at 5:00.

2. Decide to stop at the convenience store on way home to get a 2 liter of Sprite Zero, as will probably be thirsty later.

3. Realize after leaving store that keys are not in purse and will be carrying around 2 liter of Sprite Zero for the immediate future.

4. Call friend with spare key to my apartment. Friend is unavailable.

5. Call 2nd friend who lives nearby to hang out until friend #1 gets message. Friend #2 unavailable.

6. Curse self for having been foolish enough to make a plan, then get on bus pulling up.

7. Wait at the station for a blue line train, which is running on a delay due to a broken train somewhere along the line.

8. Return to building 45 minutes later and track down maintenance guy to open office door.

9. Retrieve keys, thanking lucky stars that they're actually there and didn't fall out of purse somewhere, as feared.

10. Deposit 2 liter of Sprite Zero in office fridge as have no interest in carrying around anymore and figure will be thirsty at work on Tuesday.

11. Wait in Boston Common to meet friend #3 for dinner so trip back into town was not total waste.

12. Wander for what seems like hours to find a place to eat, until finally deciding the next place with umbrellas is the place.

13. Both order sangria at recommendation of waitress, to be told afterward that sangria only comes by the pitcher ($24).

14. Split said pitcher between the two of us.

15. Take long, sobering stroll to train station.

16. Make way back home, this time with keys in purse and 1/2 pitcher of sangria in stomach.

17. Realize this all boils down to being the laundry's fault.


Ah well, serves me right for having a plan and thinking it would get followed through on. And at least I was able to avoid eye contact with anyone on my way home. Unlike Saturday night when I decided to stop and buy my monthly pass then so I could avoid the crowds on Monday:

As I was walking away from the machine where you buy your pass (head down, with determination) a woman tapped me on the shoulder and asked in a very thick Russian accent if I could help her and her friend buy just one ride. Despite my aversion to people on the T I like to think I'm not a complete jerk, so I helped out. I turned to walk away again and the same woman tapped me on the shoulder saying, "Wait please. One more favor. My friend from Russia going to Wonderland. Where you going? You can help her?" I say ok (again, not a jerk, and not wanting to leave poor stranded woman in the middle of Government Center) so my new friend latches onto my side and heads down into the train with me. She didn't speak any English, so it was interesting to try and communicate with her that she needed to take the train to the last stop. She got it, and managed to ask me if I went to the same stop. I said no. Then I believe she tried to tell me that it was her first time in Boston and that she was either getting on a plane in 5 days or she got off the plane 5 days ago. That part remains unclear. But she was a very sweet little lady and she thanked me when I got off the train. I hope she managed to get wherever she was going ok (because let me tell you, aside from a really shady night club, there's not much going on at Wonderland Station).

When I told friend #3 about this at dinner yesterday, he said, "you know this sort of thing only happens to you."

getting back into it

Way to go on Sex and the City being the #1 movie of the weekend! I never had a doubt that it would kick Indiana Jones' bum. Ha! Anyway, I saw it again on Saturday and I still loved it! Really, the only thing I didn't like about the movie was the Fergie theme song. To which I say, really? Fergie? You couldn't get anyone better to do the theme for this movie? Seriously? Someone with a voice that sounds a little less like plastic coming through a tin can? Sorry, that's mean.

Outside of that it was a fairly noneventful weekend. I once again didn't do my laundry (I'm doing it tonight. I swear), but I did clean my shower. I Liquid Plumber'd the crap out of it and it seems to be draining properly, but I have decided that this summer I am taking a proactive approach to my shower problem and I will no longer feel the need to wash my feet after I take a shower. Finally. I'm thinking positively.

The other thing I did this weekend was knit on a baby dress I'm making. I have decided that this year someone I know is going to have a baby girl and that baby girl is going to get a hand knit dress. Because I have this pattern and it's super cute. Of course, it's not like I have any pictures of it or anything (well, that's not entirely true. I do have pictures, but they're on my camera which is in my apartment on my couch and I'm clearly at work) to make this interesting, but I plan to put some up soon enough. It's (surprise, surprise) red. :) I think it might even be machine washable (which probably would have been a good thing to check before I started, right? My bad.